I. OPENING ILLUSTRATION:
II. TEXT:
Zechariah 4:6-14 (CSB)
So he answered me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord of Armies. 7 ‘What are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. And he will bring out the capstone accompanied by shouts of: Grace, grace to it!’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Zerubbabel’s hands have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you. 10 For who despises the day of small things? These seven eyes of the Lord, which scan throughout the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the ceremonial stone[b] in Zerubbabel’s hand.”
11 I asked him, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?” 12 And I questioned him further, “What are the two streams[c] of the olive trees, from which the golden oil is pouring through the two golden conduits?”
13 Then he inquired of me, “Don’t you know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.
14 “These are the two anointed ones,” he said, “who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
III. SETTING:
The book Zechariah was written during the time shortly after the people of ancient Judah had returned from being captives in Babylon for seventy years. Zechariah is like the “book of Revelation” of the Old Testament. It is filled with symbolic visions whose purpose is to encourage its hearers that God was in control despite what things in the world might indicate.
Most of the Judahites had not seen Jerusalem before. What they knew of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah was what they had heard from their parents and grandparents. They were born in Babylon. They had been born in the nation, the city, that was the metropolitan capital of the Ancient Near Eastern world. The walls around Babylon were immense. The hanging gardens of Babylon were one of the wonders of the ancient world. Baylon was at the top of education, politics, and technology, and military might. Babylon was glorious. The Judahites returning to Jerusalem saw crumbled walls and a temple and city that was left in ruins decades ago.
The potential for discouragement was all around. God raised up the prophets Zechariah and Haggai. They were commissioned by the LORD to encourage the people. The Jewish people were patriotic. They were excited about beginning again. They believed the LORD had sent the small group to rebuild, to do something great. God had stirred their hearts. God had stirred the heart of Cyrus the king of Persia to allow them the go home and rebuild. But, seeing the size of it could be overwhelming…
Zechariah is the fifth vision in the book of Zechariah. It is addressed to a leader of the Judahites named Zerubbabel, which means “born in Babylon.” God understands who we are and when he calls us to work for him, he meets us as we are. Zerubbabel was doing something new. It was his first time. There is a message in this for Pastor Omar and Andrea.
This is your one-year anniversary service. You’re doing something you haven’t done before at the House of Prayer. And to this congregation, “You are doing something new.” There are four principles in this vision that I want to share with you this afternoon.
IV. PREACHING POINTS:
1. HUMAN EFFORT ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH
It would have been very easy for Zechariah to depend on the support of Babylon [the Persian empire]. They were making the decrees that allowed them to go home. It was in Babylon that Zerubbabel had received his education, his training, and his wealth. His view of the world, in part was shaped by Babylon. But, God reminds him that it is not by might or power [military strength].
Our dependence should be on the LORD from the beginning to the end. He says it is “by My Spirit.” The Spirit is that which animates and enlivens and moves.
It was the Spirit of the LORD that had stirred the hearts of those who decided to return to Jerusalem. It was the Spirit of the LORD that stirred the heart of Cyrus and the succeeding kings of Persia to make decrees to allow Judah to return to Jerusalem.
The Spirit of the LORD:
Blows like the wind
You can hear the sound, but
Cannot tell where it comes from’
Or where it is going.
You can feel its effects,
The leaves are rustling.
It was the Spirit of the LORD that hovered over the face of the abyss,
The Spirit was in Joseph giving wisdom to manage the affairs of Egypt,
To feed the world and preserve the people of God.
The Spirit came upon the Judges.
Samson, Gideon.
The kings, Saul and David.
The Spirit of the LORD came upon the prophets.
Those who wrote Scripture.
To build…
It was the Spirit of the LORD that came upon the Virgin and the Savior was conceived…
The only thing the same from the beginning to end is the Spirit of the LORD.
As you continue forward, keep leaning on the Spirit. Be innovative. Use Technology. Find musicians. Partner with other workers in the Gospel…
But remember, the thing that really enlivens and empowers you is the Spirit. God put it in your heart to begin. He gave you the burden. He sent the people to you, you began with. He is drawing those who he has ordained to eternal life. Having begun in the Spirit, you will not be made perfect by the flesh (Galatians 3:3).
Keep leaning on the Spirit.
Pray. Honor the Lord.
Keep conducting your lives and your services in a way that honors and invites the Spirit of the Lord.
Don’t try to manufacture it or work it up…
Pray, “Come, Holy Spirit!”
And then wait for Him.
He is the LORD of Armies [Hosts].
When he shows up, he doesn’t come alone.
All of heavens resources are at your access.
Zerubbabel wasn’t working for himself.
He was working for the LORD, and so are you.
When you’re working for someone else,
They pay the bill and provide the resources.
What the LORD has to offer is supernatural.
Angels. Gifts.
There is invisible help.
When you feel alone in your work, remember…
There are more for you than those that be against you.
The LORD of Armies [Hosts].
2. IT’S NOT AS LARGE A TASK AS IT SEEMS
The mountain of rebuilding Jerusalem was more than Zerubbabel could imagine accomplishing…
To this the LORD, “Who are you, mountain before Zerubbabel?”
Mountain?
Just a mountain.
Not big deal.
From heaven’s point of view what looks like a mountain to us is not just a hill, but a flat plain.
If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea.” An it will be done! (Matthew 11:23)
There is something about mountains and mouths.
The LORD through Isaiah spoke these words:
Isaiah 41:14-16 (CSB)
Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel.
I will help you” —
this is the Lord’s declaration.
Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board,
new, with many teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them
and make hills into chaff.
You will winnow thema
and a wind will carry them away,
a whirlwind will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
Tiny mouths can move mountains when speaking the right words.
Keep praying.
Your words justify.
Your words condemn.
Your words build.
Your words destroy.
The words that the LORD says will cause the mountain to move before Zerubbabel,
Are “Grace! Grace!”
Ephesians 2:8-10 (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
It was God’s grace that started the work, and his grace will finish it!
It is his work; we are just participants!
Zerubbabel, if you rely on his strength and declare his grace over it, you will bring forth the headstone. The final stone will be laid. You will finish the task that looks like a mountain!
3. THERE IS POWER IN FINISHING
As Zerubbabel was just beginning the work, the LORD sent word that he would finish it.
James, the Lord’s brother, admonished his hearers, not to get weary in doing what is good because if they would keep going they would reap a harvest in due season.
Finishing anything of value takes time.
The Psalmist (Psalm 138:8 NKJV) said,
“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”
Paul wrote to the Phillipians (1:6 KJV),
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ…”
God is into finishing what he starts.
He intends for us to do the same.
He wants us to finish our part.
We were created as his image.
When God had finished everything he had made he declared it “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
On each day of creation, when God had finished a task, he stopped and celebrated it as “good” (Genesis 1).
Finishing is very good. Finishing the large and finishing the small.
You’re building for now and for the future.
What you finish now matters for what others will finish for the future.
We don’t own anything, we are merely stewards.
We must finish what God has for us to finish.
God has given you a specific job.
David served his generation… Solomon came after…
Paul finished HIS course and HIS race… but Timothy came after…
Zerubbabel could only do what God called HIM to do…
He was a rebuilder… but others came after and eventually Jesus himself would walk into the temple that Zerubbabel finished and others kept working on…
What you’re doing matters!
Do what God has called YOU to do in the way he has called YOU to do it…
Mark Twain once said that the two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you figure out why!
Don’t compare your church to other churches. Build what God has for you. Let them be accountable to God and you do the same.
And just finish it.
Ask yourself,
Who has God put on MY prayer list?
Who has God placed in MY path?
God, what are you doing and how can I participate!?
Zerubbabel was figuring it out.
James Kilgore attributed his success in ministry to this. He said that the Lord would give him assignments, and he would just work on them until they were finished. Finish!
Don’t get distracted from your assignment!
Give yourself fully to what God has placed before YOU.
Give yourself to what God has placed in YOUR hands.
Your hands began it, and by the grace of God, your hands will finish it.
Your children are your number one priority. Don’t forget.
Of such, the kingdom of heaven is made.
4. DON’T DESPISE THE SMALL STUFF
We like the big and glamourous sometimes when it comes to our ideas of success. Zerubbabel and the returning captives had come from Babylon. Babylon was big. It was glamorous. It was successful. It would have been easy for the Judahaites to miss what God was doing in the small, by comparing it to the big.
God is at work in the small.
The big grows out of the small.
The eons of time, from the increments.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Apple orchards full of sweet-smelling succulent ripe red apples
Began as seeds someone planted
And watered
And labored over
For years.
God is at work in the small.
Small things in the world
Like bees
Pollinate and bring life
Without them there would be not fruit…
The greatest minds and physiques
Began as sperm and egg
And grew to embryo and fetus
And child and adolescent
To man or woman
To doctor, or preacher, or general, or poet
Or mother…
Small is okay.
Small is beautiful.
God said, “Don’t despise the day of small things!”
He finishes [there’s that word again] the prophecy mentioning the LORD’s seven eyes.
Mystical vision. Symbolic.
The number seven has to do with what is finished and complete.
The LORD looks upon what Zerubbabel is doing through the eyes of completion. Seven, perfect vision.
He sees beyond the small to the capstone.
The final stone being laid.
The icing on the cake.
The cutting of the ribbon at the grand opening.
Zerubbabel was building a temple that one day, four hundred years later Jesus would walk into. Others would finish their part, but eventually Jesus would show up. Haggai, Zechariah’s contemporary said of the temple that was being built by the returning exiles that the glory of the latter house would be greater that the glory of the former house (Haggai 2:9). The reason was not that it was more architecturally or ascetically glorious than Solomon’s original temple, but because Jesus was going to show up. And when Jesus showed up, he declared that his temple was to be called a House of Prayer for all nations (Matthew 21:13). What makes anything great is the Presence of Jesus. He is the One who came to us small and weak and lowly. Who died for our sins. Who was buried. Who rose the third day. Who ascended into the heavens. Who poured out his Spirit upon us. Who is coming again!
Andrea and Omar, you’re building, through the Spirit of God and by the Grace of God for the arrival of Jesus. I felt the Spirit of the LORD quicken me as I penned these words yesterday. The name you chose for this work is prophetic, “House of Prayer.” There are greater things coming than you have imagined (Ephesians 3:20). God has awesome surprises for you. Don’t despise the day of small things. These days are building blocks for the greater things! And don’t ever move from the mindset that you have right now, because God is at work in the small even when it grows larger.
V. CONCLUSION:
